


Slice of Life

by JustAnotherGhostwriter



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mentions of more adult-y stuff, Pete's World possibility, Random moment out of their lives together, the Bad Wolf left her mark even here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-12-04 11:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherGhostwriter/pseuds/JustAnotherGhostwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living the slow path with TenToo and Rose, and how even the smallest moments can be turned into something extraordinary. AKA: a short little moment in the life of Rose and her Doctor in Pete's world that does not include running or saving the Earth (and that that is actually okay).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slice of Life

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: Yet another little “scene” (as I like to call them) that popped into my head and would not let me work until I wrote it down. It’s pretty pointless and the fluff is so forced but I am subject to my muse. This one is dedicated to the lovely therealholdim on Tumblr whose amazing comments on the crap I post just make me smile like a lunatic. You’re amazing <3 
> 
> Creative License: Use, reblog on Tumblr/LJ/whatever, edit, destroy etc as you will. I don’t care. Just if it is used for fic or art in some way please consider linking me? I love reading/looking.

Walking through the Tyler Mansion reminded him of walking through the TARDIS. Of course, comparing the two was very similar to comparing listening to an mp3 on the ocean and having a summer holiday by the seaside but… it was the closest he could get right then. He was very careful not to explore too much at once, just so there was always some new nook or cranny he could stumble upon, just so there was one more twisting corner he hadn’t turned. Rose, bless her, understood without him needing to say a word that he had to wander around her parents’ house and never so much as mentioned it in passing. He was also very sure it was her doing that there was always something new or something purposefully out of place every time he walked the halls of the mansion. Every time they came around to the mansion – be it for a cup of tea or Sunday lunch or family dinner or birthday party – she’d stick with him as normal until after the dinner was over and politeness no longer stipulated that everybody stay together. Then she’d quietly step away from his side and go and do something with her mother, or discuss Torchwood with her father or play with Tony. And he’d be allowed to slip out and go and wander the halls like he so craved.

 

He supposed his wanderings should remind him how much he had given up for a single human. All they did was remind him how utterly fantastic, brilliant, Molto Bene his pink and yellow girl was.

 

And even though he really did crave the wanderings around the twisting passages of the mansion, it was never very long until his feet were taking him back to her on their own accord. Even the desperate, craving side of him could not deny she was where he wanted to be.

 

On this particular night he found her in Tony’s bedroom. The littlest Tyler seemed to be utterly convinced that his sister shone brighter than the sun in every aspect. “Wose” was a frequent star in his drawings, and he delighted in driving his father mad by disappearing when he was being babysat at Torchwood just so he could seek his sister out. In other words, Tony was proving to be a very smart little boy indeed. Rose, for her part, adored her brother with all the strength of her motherly instinct and never said no to him unless it honestly was for his own good. This mutual adoration was what led to Rose being the preferred companion whenever it was Tony’s bedtime – she was the only one who would never be too tired or too stressed to do all the voices properly.

 

Tonight the five-year-old was curled up into his sister’s lap, eagerly staring at the pictures of the book she held open before them. Rose had pulled her hair into a messy bun but somehow, instead of contrasting with the formal dress she wore it just made it better. The two Tylers were so engrossed by the story that they did not notice him appear, so he leaned on the doorpost and watched, smiling at the similar expressions of concentration.

 

Tony, like any normal child, had his firm favourites that were read over and over again until he probably dreamed them. Even so, Rose was very careful to always read the stories and not recite them from memory unless they were somewhere where the book was not on hand. For one thing, she remembered how irritated little kids got when you messed up their favourite stories, and she could understand why. For another, she’d learnt pretty quickly that this other universe sometimes had books and films that went very differently to the ones in her home universe. Most of the differences were small and manageable – Sam and Frodo’s names were switched, the Dursleys had a daughter, there were three evil stepsisters – but others just blew her away. She’d still have moments of utter disbelief, for example, when somebody reminded them that Romeo and Juliet ended up living happily ever after together as fugitives after they massacred their entire town.

 

Even with the universe butchering the classics, her favourite love stories and the great hits the ones that really appalled her were the children’s stories. She could not, for example, fathom why on earth Snow White would want to live in a cave with seven giants. Or how people could read their children stories where the witch ate Hansel and made Gretel her slave until she died and Gretel took over her powers and her evil search for children to devour. For Tony’s sake, however, she could mostly put her prejudice aside and found she actually didn’t mind the new versions all too much.

 

There were two exceptions – two stories that she could not wrap her head around. Two stories that had made her speechless the first time she’d read them. Two stories that hadn’t made her nostalgic or a little disgusted but honestly just… there was no word for what she felt towards them. And this was without her remembering the exact events the Doctor could recall with absolute clarity.

 

Coincidentally, one of these two said stories was one of Tony’s absolute favourites. And Rose was reading it to him tonight.

 

“So the third little pig let his brothers stay with him and he locked the door to his brick house nice and tight. The three pigs waited in silence, until the telltale sounds came from outside. _‘Open the door, let me in!’_ came the voice from outside. _‘Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!’_ replied the third pig.” Tony giggled as Rose tickled him under his chin and her trademark grin appeared.

 

“The first two pigs were still a little afraid that their brother’s house of bricks would not be strong enough, either, but when there were sounds of huffing and puffing outside and the walls stayed standing, they knew they’d won. And so the pigs celebrated, and they loudly made even more wicked plans to burn down the village, take over all the other animals’ things and never let the people they took go again.”

 

Tony snuggled in closer to Rose at this announcement of doom, and the Doctor shifted closer. This was the part that had amazed Rose, but her amazement stemmed only from the fact that the warning would follow her this far into her new life. The Doctor knew better. He still remembered all of it. He knew that the testament of this mild children’s book was a link to something beautiful, great and terrible he never wanted to think about again and, at the same time, never wanted to forget.

 

“But this story isn’t done yet.” Rose paused for effect, then flipped the page and carried on reading. “The pigs’ plans carried outside and reached the ears of the tired wolf who had tried so hard to blow the brick house down. And the plans made the Bad Wolf very, very angry. The Bad Wolf didn’t like what the pigs were planning and especially didn’t like that the pigs had some of its friends that they could – and would – hurt. And so the Bad Wolf started looking for another way into the pigs’ house: it believed that there was a way back, even if it looked impossible.”

 

As she turned the page again, Rose caught sight of him. Her smile was warm and it still did such funny things to his insides. “After walking around the house, the Bad Wolf saw a way in – the chimney! It was hard work getting on top of the house, but the wolf climbed and climbed anyway. Finally getting to the chimney, the wolf slipped down. But the pigs had heard it coming and had lit a fire in the fireplace! Now the wolf had to make another choice – get out and be unhurt, or go on anyway.”

 

Rose’s eyes left the book and caught with his – she recited the next part instead of reading it. And she didn’t know – couldn’t know – but at the same time he knew she almost did. “And the Bad Wolf went down the chimney anyway, and it was set on fire.” Oh, how clearly he could remember her on fire. When the entire universe burnt through her eyes and made the glow that was always inside of her a thing the whole world could see. “It hurt the Bad Wolf, being on fire like that, but the Bad Wolf didn’t stop. Its friends were in danger, and the pigs were very bad. The wolf would have done anything to keep its friends and the village safe.”

 

_“I want you safe. My Doctor.”_

 

She didn’t remember, didn’t know. But her eyes were telling him that she agreed with the wolf in the story. Her eyes were telling him that she would do it again in a heartbeat. His beautiful Rose didn’t know she was telling her brother her own story, the story of how she saved him from more than just the Daleks, but she knew that Bad Wolf was connected to her somehow, and she knew that she agreed with the wolf’s assessment on the world.

 

“And the Bad Wolf, even though it was hurt, used the fire to drive the pigs away.” Rose went back to reading. He could still feel her looking into his soul. “The pigs tried to run, but the Bad Wolf knew they would just be evil somewhere else, so it ate them up like it promised it would. And then it was left to burn.” The Doctor closed his eyes tightly. “But the wolf’s friends were now free from the pigs and they rushed out to find their wolf burning. They were so sad they started crying, and their tears put the fire on the wolf out. The brick house was turned into a nice place where all the animals could meet and have fun. And everybody was happy and okay, even the Bad Wolf, although its burnt feet left its pawprints all over the place it walked.”

 

 _“I take the words. I scatter them in time and space.” His_ Rose.

 

“And they all lived happily ever after!” Tony grinned a huge grin at his sister, which she matched as she snapped the book shut smartly. The Doctor moved out of their lines of sight. “All right, mister. Now it’s time for actual sleep.”

 

“One more?” Tony begged, pulling out the puppy eyes.

 

“Oh, so you can say the ‘r’ in anything except my name now, yeah?”

 

“Pleeeeeease, Wose, just one more.”

 

“Nope. Sorry, but mum’ll kill me. ‘Night.” Tony pouted but then let his sister kiss him.

 

“Night.” A pause while she tucked him in. “Thanks for the story.”

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

The Doctor was sure to stay very still as Rose fussed a bit more before turning towards the door. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Tony. It was, actually, the complete opposite. Once the two of them got together they wouldn’t be able to stop what they were doing for at least three hours. Which was why it was not a good idea that Tony knew he was around at bedtime. Rose flicked the light switch and then pulled the door three quarters of the way closed. As she whispered another goodnight, her hand found his smoothly, as though it were as automatic as taking a breath. Linked, the two made their way back downstairs and then proceeded to start the very long ceremony that was leaving the Tyler Mansion. Or, more accurately, leaving Jackie.

 

The Doctor tended to let Rose do all the talking in such ceremonies. It was definitely for the best.

 

The two finally made it out onto the pavement, with Jackie following so she could tell their driver to take them home. Rose looked to the Doctor. “Wanna just walk?”

 

“Sounds brilliant,” he grinned, causing her teeth to poke out beneath her tongue.

 

“Are you two daft? It’s ten in the evening! And look at that sky! It’s gonna rain!”

 

“Mum. I live three blocks away. I’m pretty sure the rain will hold off ‘til then. Go back inside. Sleep tight. I’ll speak to you in the morning.”

 

“Night Jackie!” he called cheekily as they began their way back to their flat.

 

He got a poisonous glare in return. “I’m not gonna go down there to identify your bodies! Do y’hear?”

 

“Mum, I face things more dangerous than human muggers on a weekly basis,” Rose reminded her calmly. “Stop fretting.”

 

Jackie grumbled something, but it was inaudible as they were almost out of escort of the house. “Call me when you get home!”

 

“I will, Mum. Don’t fret. Love you!” Rose hollered back.

 

And then Jackie disappeared and it was just the two of them, walking down a path hand in hand with the quiet world around them. They strolled slowly and took the long route through the park, not in a rush to get back home even though it was getting pretty late and pretty overcast. They alternated between comfortable silence and easy conversation without having to think about it, with the latter becoming more and more frequent the further they walked. By the time they were halfway home their teasing was loud and unashamed and peppered with more than a little bit of flirting. They didn’t even have to think about it.

 

“Oh, don’t even say that!” Rose groaned at him, trying to remain serious even though all she wanted to do was laugh. “Lisa from reception’s boyfriend did something similar to her last week and she said it was honestly the most humiliating moment of her life. He like… I don’t even know. All I know was that it was very public and there were singing teddies involved.”

 

The Doctor winced. “Well, in the poor lad’s defence, it’s easy for human’s to not understand where the line is, sometimes.”

 

“If you’re now gonna slip in an insult about human brain power…”

 

“I wasn’t,” he said, mock-affronted. “I’m just saying. Some people don’t know where the line from ‘romantic’ to ‘weird’ is, and I can understand why.”

 

“Because they’re stupid apes.” Oh how he loved that cheeky smile.

 

“No. Because they’re completely enamoured by love. And love, Rose Tyler, makes people do very silly things.”

 

“You’re telling me. Thank heavens you aren’t that type.”

 

“You don’t think I’d find singing teddy bears for you?” He shot her a wounded look.

 

“Maybe. You’ve done stranger. It’s just… with us it doesn’t need saying.”

 

She meant it, he knew she did. And she meant it in a way that put all that wonderful, boundless trust and love in him that he still sometimes thought – knew – he didn’t deserve. But even as one part of him acknowledged this, another part of him twisted under the pain of a hundred knives. Because those words… those were his words. She was using the words he’d used to cut her off so she’d stay behind. And, even though they were the same man in so very, very many ways, those words were not one of them. He would never say them – he’d never live them. He’d never let them be the cause of his Rose finding somebody else or having the hurt in her eyes she’d had when she’d first heard them.

 

He dropped her hand. And then bounded forward and leapt onto the nearest sculpture, pointedly ignoring the Do not climb on the sculpture sign. He climbed as high as he could go, long fingers and legs swiftly carrying him upwards. Then he leaned up, cupped one hand over his mouth, and shouted into the night air.

 

“People and other beings of London! Beings of earth! Beings of this universe! I am in love with Rose Tyler!”

 

“What are you doing? Get down from there, you daft-!” She was utterly bewildered, but was smiling at him as though he were the most awesome being in the universe. 

“Rose Tyler!” he bellowed, even louder. “I love you!”

 

Rose laughed, the sound echoing in the quiet night. Beaming and very pleased with himself, he dropped back down to her side. Before either of them could say a thing, the heavens opened and the rain they said they’d miss rushed over them like they’d just been pranked by the universe. Delighted, the Doctor laughed and turned his face to the falling water that was very quickly turning into a downpour. There was suddenly a hand in his and he looked quickly to his left. He was met with shining brown eyes and the smile that was reserved only for him.

“Run!” she grinned.

 

And he did. The two pelted down the rest of the park and tore up the road, slipping and sliding and laughing and twirling around in the middle of the street when they realized that they were thoroughly wet anyway, so what the hell. Unlocking the apartment door took longer than expected because of the wet and how hard they were laughing so by the time they stumbled inside they had taken half the rainfall with them in their clothes. The shoes went first, being left by the door to dry out a little. Then came off the coats – those were tossed straight into the washing machine. They helped each other peel off the rest of the sopping wet clothing and shove that in the washer too.

 

And, as a double bonus, by the time Rose was putting the detergent in they were both thoroughly warmed up.

 

She turned towards the bedroom – not necessarily to find clothes, mind – and came face to face with the image of the Doctor braced against the doorway, as clothed as she was and with a cheeky smile on his face. There was a rose in his mouth. Sultrily he sauntered forwards, mimicking the great romantics from the movies, waggling his eyebrows and making the rose – so red against his pale skin – almost hypnotise her. And then, suddenly, he was spitting the flower out and clutching at his lip with wide-eyed shock.

 

Rose burst out laughing, and couldn’t stop for about ten minutes. By the time she was under control, the Doctor’s lip had stopped bleeding from where he’d impaled himself with a thorn. She decided to kiss it better. Just in case.

 

And then her hand was in his and he was dragging her into the bedroom and pushing her onto the bed. Her hands reached for the covers and pulled them over them both as he snuggled against her. In their little cocoon, there was only darkness and each other. The world didn’t exist. And that was the point.

 

The Doctor started making noises and Rose had to laugh again.

 

“For about the billionth time – the TARDIS does not sound like that.”

 

“Oh, like you could do any better!”

 

“All right, so where are we?”

 

She couldn’t see his grin, but she felt it. “We are on a lovely little planet called Jaxleer.” Rose snuggled closer. “It is round, but smaller than Earth. Its atmosphere makes it look pink – I thought you’d like the colour.”

 

“Oh, it looks beautiful,” she sighed against him.

 

“Everything you see has this pink hue, and the natives tend to wear whites or variants thereof so-”

 

“It’s basically just a planet of pink?”

 

“Exactly! All right, so I’m leading you off the TARDIS now. We’re on the planet surface. The pink planet.”

 

“Where are we going to go?” Her voice still brimmed with excitement, even though they’d played this game too many times to mention. He loved her so much, right then. “I’m going to take you to their famous fields.”

 

“Magnetic fields?”

 

“Nope.” He popped the ‘p’ right in her ear. “Grass fields.”

 

“Do they have applegrass too?”

 

“No. Their grass is known for being the softest their side of the galaxy.”

 

“You took me to see soft grass?” She shifted a little away from him. “What’s the catch?”

 

He grinned, even though she couldn’t see him. “I needed you to be somewhere you could lie comfortably.”

 

“Why?” Her voice was confused but not even the little bit suspicious. He could have announced that he’d taken her straight into the third circle of hell and she wouldn’t doubt him. He loved her so, so much.

 

“Because, Rose Tyler, I am half human. And it is simply against the rules to walk around naked in front of a human male and then expect him to just forget about it.”

 

She wanted to reply, but her lips were already too busy with is.


End file.
